Display

One of the most notable upgrades brought by the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the screen. The Super AMOLED panel is every bit as great as its specs sheet suggests. It offers virtually limitless contrast, vibrant colors and is as sharp as it gets.

The diagonal has been increased from 4.8" to 5", and while this isn't a huge difference by any standard more is always better when talking screen estate (as long as you find the balance with the size of the actual device, of course). The resolution has been bumped from 720 x 1280 pixels to 1080 x 1920 pixels, bringing the pixel density to around 441, a massive improvement over the 306ppi density of the Galaxy S III screen.

The Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S III screens

Both screens employ Pentile matrices but at such high densities the dreaded crosshatch pattern isn't really an issue. In fact the Samsung flagship is probably the one to befit the most of the new 1080p trend, as individual pixels are impossible to spot on the Galaxy S4 despite the two-subpixels-per-pixel screen. It's not they were prominent on the Galaxy S III either, but if you looked from very closely you could see some dottiness. So at this point one of the main arguments against the AMOLED technology has been eradicated.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S III screens under a microscope

More impressively, the other shortcoming of the AMOLED panels, their oversaturated colors, have been taken care of as well. Samsung lets you select between four display modes for your Galaxy S4, including a dedicated Adobe RGB mode, which provides very accurate color reproduction. Naturally, those that are fond of the extra punchy colors can also opt for one of the livelier options, so the Galaxy S4 screen really brings the best of both worlds.

We also noticed that the screen on the Galaxy S4 is slightly brighter than that of its predecessor. Keep in mind that you need to disable the auto adjust screen tone option to get the maximum brightness.

Display test

50% brightness

100% brightness

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

HTC One

0.13

205

1580

0.42

647

1541

HTC Butterfly

0.14

173

1200

0.45

501

1104

Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4

0

201

∞

0

404

∞

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III

0

174

∞

0

330

∞

Sony Xperia Z

-

-

-

0.70

492

705

Oppo Find 5

0.17

176

1123

0.51

565

1107

Samsung N7100 Galaxy Note II

0

215

∞

0

402

∞

LG Optimus G Pro

-

-

-

0.41

611

1489

Nokia Lumia 920

-

-

-

0.48

513

1065

LG Optimus G

0.14

197

1445

0.33

417

1438

Apple iPhone 5

0.13

200

1490

0.48

640

1320

Viewing angles on the Galaxy S4 are superb as expected. In direct sunlight the contrast is a little lower than that of the Galaxy S III but not by much so you're getting more or less the same sunlight legibility. Perhaps, the new Gorilla Glass causes a dash of extra reflections and offsets the brightness advantage of the new Samsung flagship.

Battery life

The latest Samsung flagship brings a notable upgrade in the battery department. The Galaxy S4 has a 2600 mAh battery versus a 2100 mAh unit on the Galaxy S III. We were curious to see how that balances with the brighter and larger screen of higher resolution and the new chipset, which while built on a new 28nm process is still supposedly drawing more power than the Exynos 4412 inside the Galaxy S III.

As it turns out the extra battery supply more than makes up for the extra power demands of the Galaxy S4 and the new Samsung flagship posted some impressive numbers in our test.

Not quite surprisingly, the Galaxy S4 managed to better the achievement of its predecessor in the talk time test quite significantly. With the screen switched off and the chipset not having much to do the Galaxy S4 reached an impressive 13h 53min versus the 10h 15min of the Galaxy S III.

Talk time

Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)21:18

LG Optimus G Pro20:45

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX20:24

Motorola RAZR i20:07

Samsung Galaxy Note II N710016:57

Sony Xperia Z16:03

LG Optimus G15:30

Nokia Lumia 62014:17

Oppo Find 514:17

Google Nexus 414:17

Samsung Galaxy S413:53

HTC One13:38

HTC One X+13:31

Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos12:45

Huawei Ascend P112:30

HTC Butterfly12:18

Samsung Galaxy Note12:14

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam11:58

Samsung Galaxy Premier11:30

Asus Padfone 211:20

HTC Droid DNA11:07

HTC Windows Phone 8X11:07

Samsung Wave 3 S860011:07

Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus11:06

HTC Desire X11:03

HTC One X (AT&T, LTE)10:35

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III10:20

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)10:15

Samsung Galaxy Xcover 210:03

HTC One V10:00

Meizu MX 4-core10:00

Samsung Galaxy Express10:00

HTC One X9:57

HTC One S9:42

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R9:40

HTC Sensation XL9:30

Nokia Lumia 8109:05

Nokia Lumia 7109:05

Acer CloudMobile S5009:05

Motorola Atrix HD9:04

HTC Vivid9:02

Nokia Lumia 9208:56

Nokia Lumia 6108:51

HTC Rhyme8:48

Apple iPhone 58:42

LG Optimus 3D Max P7208:42

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V8:41

Meizu MX8:39

Samsung Galaxy S II8:35

Samsung Galaxy S Duos8:28

Nokia Lumia 8008:25

Samsung Galaxy Nexus8:23

Nokia Lumia 5108:22

BlackBerry Z108:20

HTC Desire V8:20

Samsung Captivate Glide8:20

Sony Xperia T8:15

HTC Rezound (LTE)8:10

Samsung Galaxy Note (LTE)8:02

LG Optimus Vu7:57

LG Optimus 4X HD7:41

Apple iPhone 4S7:41

Samsung i937 Focus S7:25

HTC Evo 4G LTE (LTE)7:21

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G7:14

Nokia Lumia 8207:09

Sony Xperia acro S7:09

Samsung Rugby Smart I8477:09

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro6:57

Nokia N96:57

HTC Radar6:53

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos6:53

BlackBerry Curve 93806:52

Sony Xperia E dual6:42

Samsung Galaxy S III mini6:22

Samsung Galaxy Pocket5:54

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (LTE)5:53

Sony Xperia ion LTE5:52

Sony Xperia P5:33

Nokia 808 PureView5:16

LG Nitro HD (LTE)5:16

HTC Titan II (LTE)5:10

BlackBerry Bold 97905:00

Pantech Burst4:46

The web browsing test is a completely different affair and with Super AMOLED screens not being the best suited for the predominantly white web pages browsing we were worried that the extra screen estate and resolution might take its toll on the Galaxy S4 performance here. As it turned out however, the optimizations Samsung made allowed its new flagship to better the achievement of its predecessor by the amazing 2h 15 min. The 8h 42min overall result is not drastically lower than that of the current leader in our charts, HTC One.

Web browsing

HTC One9:58

Apple iPhone 59:56

Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)9:12

Apple iPad mini9:05

Samsung Galaxy Note II N71008:48

Samsung Galaxy S48:42

Nokia Lumia 8108:20

Asus Padfone 28:20

Nokia Lumia 6108:01

HTC One X+7:56

Sony Xperia E dual7:42

Samsung Galaxy S III mini7:38

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX7:23

HTC Radar7:17

Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos7:09

Samsung Galaxy Express7:09

Motorola RAZR i7:06

Apple iPhone 4S6:56

HTC One V6:49

LG Optimus G Pro6:40

Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus6:40

HTC Droid DNA6:40

Samsung Galaxy Premier6:40

Motorola Atrix HD6:40

BlackBerry Curve 93806:40

Sony Xperia Z6:37

Samsung Galaxy Xcover 26:35

BlackBerry Z106:27

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)6:27

HTC Butterfly6:24

Samsung i937 Focus S6:15

Nokia Lumia 5106:13

HTC Windows Phone 8X6:01

Sony Xperia ion LTE5:56

Samsung Rugby Smart I8475:53

Pantech Burst5:51

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G5:45

HTC Desire V5:44

HTC Evo 4G LTE5:41

Nokia Lumia 9205:40

Samsung Wave 3 S86005:34

Oppo Find 55:33

Sony Xperia T5:33

Samsung Captivate Glide5:33

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam5:28

Samsung Galaxy Note LTE5:24

Samsung Galaxy S Duos5:23

HTC Sensation XL5:20

Meizu MX 4-core5:19

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III5:17

Sony Xperia acro S5:16

HTC Rezound5:16

HTC Desire X5:16

LG Optimus G5:15

HTC Rhyme5:08

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R5:07

HTC One X (AT&T)5:03

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro4:50

LG Optimus Vu4:49

HTC Vivid4:46

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos4:45

Meizu MX4:35

Google Nexus 44:34

Nokia N94:33

Acer CloudMobile S5004:32

Nokia Lumia 8204:24

Samsung Galaxy S II4:24

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V4:20

HTC One X4:18

Nokia 808 PureView4:14

LG Optimus 3D Max P7204:10

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T4:10

Nokia Lumia 8004:07

HTC Titan II (LTE)4:05

HTC One S4:03

BlackBerry Bold 97904:02

LG Nitro HD4:00

LG Optimus 4X HD3:59

Sony Xperia P3:59

Nokia Lumia 7103:51

Nokia Lumia 6203:50

Samsung Galaxy Pocket3:47

Samsung Galaxy Note3:35

Huawei Ascend P13:23

Samsung Galaxy Nexus3:01

The video playback test plays more to the AMOLED displays' strengths, so seeing another great score by the Samsung Galaxy S4 was more or less expected. The Samsung flagship managed to beat the endurance of its rival by just under 50 minutes, lasting for 10h 16min.

Video playback

Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)16:35

Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX14:17

Apple iPad mini12:51

Samsung Galaxy Premier12:51

Samsung Galaxy Note II N710011:27

Samsung Galaxy S410:16

Apple iPhone 510:12

HTC One10:02

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III10:01

Samsung Galaxy Express10:00

Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus10:00

Nokia 808 PureView9:53

Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam9:42

Samsung Rugby Smart I8479:34

HTC One S9:28

Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)9:27

Apple iPhone 4S9:24

HTC Evo 4G LTE9:07

BlackBerry Z108:44

LG Optimus G Pro8:40

Nokia N98:40

HTC Butterfly8:28

Samsung Galaxy Note8:25

Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos8:11

HTC One X+8:11

Motorola RAZR i8:11

Samsung Galaxy S II8:00

Samsung i937 Focus S7:55

Samsung Wave 3 S86007:52

Samsung Galaxy S III mini7:46

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V7:45

Asus Padfone 27:38

Huawei Ascend P17:38

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G7:33

HTC Droid DNA7:30

Samsung Galaxy Note LTE7:30

Samsung Galaxy Xcover 27:30

Nokia Lumia 6107:23

LG Optimus G7:16

Meizu MX 4-core6:33

Nokia Lumia 6206:32

HTC Windows Phone 8X6:27

Sony Xperia E dual6:27

Nokia Lumia 8106:27

HTC Desire V6:26

HTC One X (AT&T)6:26

Nokia Lumia 8206:25

Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos6:25

Nokia Lumia 5106:23

LG Optimus Vu6:23

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R6:21

Nokia Lumia 9206:19

HTC Sensation XL6:12

Samsung Galaxy Pocket6:06

Samsung Captivate Glide6:04

Sony Xperia ion LTE6:03

Samsung Galaxy Nexus6:02

Sony Xperia T6:01

Motorola Atrix HD6:01

HTC Vivid6:00

HTC Radar5:54

Nokia Lumia 8005:52

HTC Titan II5:50

BlackBerry Bold 97905:47

HTC One X5:45

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro5:44

Sony Xperia Z5:39

Sony Xperia acro S5:38

HTC Desire X5:38

Pantech Burst5:38

Meizu MX5:27

HTC Rhyme5:23

HTC One V5:20

Acer CloudMobile S5005:18

Oppo Find 55:18

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T5:18

BlackBerry Curve 93805:09

HTC Rezound5:03

Google Nexus 44:55

Samsung Galaxy S Duos4:30

Sony Xperia P4:30

LG Nitro HD4:17

LG Optimus 4X HD4:14

LG Optimus 3D Max P7203:28

Nokia Lumia 7103:27

When you add the endurance of all these tests together and factor in the stand-by efficiency, the Galaxy S4 got an endurance score of 63h. This means that you'd need to charge the smartphone once every 63h if you use it for an hour of talk time, an hour of video playback and an hour of web browsing per day. The score compares really favorably to the Galaxy S III 50 h endurance rating, suggesting that those that value battery backup highly have quite good reason to upgrade.